Judy Graff's sublime-to-the-ridiculous (well, mostly ridiculous) take on real estate for east San Fernando Valley and North Los Angeles communities. This includes Hollywood Hills, Burbank, Studio City and Toluca Lake real estate and homes for sale, and also covers Valley Village, North Hollywood, Glendale, Atwater, Sherman Oaks and other L.A. areas too. General news and musings as well.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Beer, potatoes and chocolate -- even dearer to our hearts than real estate.

It can’t be all sell-sell-sell, we have to stop for food and drink sometime, right? So this is a recap of our recent trip to Golden Road Pub and Brewery. The restaurant and brewery are in three old warehouses painted yellow, red and blue off San Fernando Blvd., in a unique location next to the train tracks on industrial land. It’s right about where L.A. meets Glendale, close to the 134 and 5 fwys. Talk about creative repurposing! Golden Road is brought to you by the same visionary people who brought you both Tony’s Darts Away in Burbank and Mohawk Bend in Echo Park. Thanks, guys.

The pub has an all-around great space. There’s an outdoor patio (dogs welcome) on an old loading dock, and a huge open-space interior with high ceilings, long wooden tables, a welcoming atmosphere and a Munich beer garden feel (there's a sarcastic Hitler joke in here someplace but I can't find it). The night we went, it was populated with after-work-ers, families including kids, late middle aged folks (that would be us) and hipsters. How’s the beer? Great. First, there are many different kinds to choose from and some of them are brewed right there, of course. The bartenders are extremely knowledgeable and only too happy to give you samples. Lots of samples. I was a little buzzed before I even decided on one. It’s cheap, too – prices range from $4 to about $9 per glass.

The food was good, impressive and unpretentious, too. Just like at Tony’s and Mohawk, the menu has both vegan and non-vegan selections with lots of sandwiches and side dishes. My 2nd favorite item: fingerling potato salad. Absolute favorite: freshly made chocolate truffles – 4 plus candied walnuts for $5. O yes, trust me on this: chocolate absolutely DOES go with beer. All in all, it’s a great addition to our area’s growing list of fun bars and restaurants.